not a love song
by Silverflare07
Summary: "The thing about Not a Love Song is that, well, it *is* a love song, sort of. The thing about Austin & Ally is that, well, they are *not* a couple, sort of." one shot. Austin/Ally, obviously.


So I discovered _Austin & Ally _a few days ago and I am completely in love with it. And, of course, by the end of the theme song I knew that I was going to love ...Aully? Auslly? Has the fandom picked out a name for them yet?

So here's my one shot. Not much to say. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Ooooo

o*o*o*o*o

_I love the way you get me  
>But correct me if I'm wrong<br>This is not a love song._

o*o*o*o*o

The thing about _Not a Love Song_ is that, well, it _is_ a love song, sort of.

The thing about _Austin & Ally_ is that, well, they are _not _a couple, sort of.

oOo

Austin never tells anyone, but Dougie sleeps in his bed every night (not wrapped in his arms or anything because –_phfftt _that would be lame).

It smells like strawberries and vanilla (_AllyAllyAlly)_ and it reminds him that he's got an amazing partner and songwriter who is going to help him achieve his dreams (he's helping her achieve hers too-it's a fair trade).

It also reminds him that she's willing to do just about anything, even humiliate herself, just to make sure he gets there.

oOo

Austin very nearly lets Demonica Dixon (that devil woman) rip their group apart. He believes her when she says she'll get him to the top so fast he's head will spin (he believes it even after he tells her to take a hike).

He feels bad about it, but Trish has got to go (he's a boy with dreams after all).

He feels bad for Dez too, but he knows his friend understands. This is his dream and Demonica is going to help him achieve it.

It's not until Ally walks away, looking small and utterly abandoned (and taking his heart right along with her) that the situation he's in begins to feel wrong_wrong_wrong (it's _Austin & Ally _not _Austin & Some Professional Writers_).

oOo

Ally works up all her nerve to ask Dallas to dance at Trish's quinceanera, but he (politely) turns her down. She feels her smile slip off her face and slips behind the rest of the crowd, trying to get as close to the wall (and as away from everyone else) as possible.

When Austin gives up his chance to sing for the club owner in order to dance with her, she sort of wants to give him a smack in the head. Mostly because Amelio is a big deal and could really take him places. But she also think it's really sweet that he's willing put his dreams on hold for her (he's done it so_so_so many times).

He drops her (it's not his fault-that horn was loud), but before that it's nice. He doesn't even step on her feet (which wouldn't normally be a concern, but that boot is black and it looks huge). He's nice enough to help her rise up from the floor (_and she helped him rise to fame_). He grins sheepishly and she knows it's because she looks annoyed.

But she completely forgets about what happened with Dallas.

oOo

It takes her awhile to hug him because, well, she doesn't hug people she doesn't know. She doesn't even hug people she knows well all that often either. She's not a particularly touchy feely kind of person.

She does eventually wrap her arms around his neck and his surprised arms slide around her waist and before he can even really enjoy it (he loves (_AllyAllyAlly) _hugs) she's already pulled away.

Now, hugs are like second nature. Just like sliding next to each other on the piano bench (shoulders bumping and –_shh!_- thighs touching). They hug all the time, for every reason (Austin is a _very_ touchy feely kind of person). They both feel warm and safe and it almost makes Ally wish she'd been a touchy feely kind of person before.

But when she finally (finally!) gets the chance to hug Dallas she is a little disappointed to find it's not quite the same.

(Austin's hugs are warm enough to belong in the state with the city's he's named after. Dallas' hugs just must be…_different_)

oOo

They second time they pull an all-nighter (they're creative juices are flowing but they just can't seem to get them on paper the way they want) they're up in the practice room, just the two of them. At about three a.m., Austin looks over at Ally and notices that she's fast asleep, her head resting on the top of the piano (she's short so he can imagine that position must be really uncomfortable).

He sighs, knowing that it's probably best if they just give up for the night because a sleepy Ally is not particularly creative (it has nothing to do with the fact that he can barely keep his eyes open, nope, nope, nothing to do with that at all). He doesn't want to wake her, but he knows he can't carry her all the way to her house either.

Instead he finds some blankets in the closet and grabs two pillows before picking her up and setting her carefully on the makeshift bed. He lies down next to her, flipping his pillow over (sleeping on his own face is just too weird). She sighs in contentment and tries to snuggle deeper into the blanket beneath her.

He wraps his arm around her, for warmth of course (it has _nothing _to do with how perfectly she fits against him) and falls into a surprising peaceful sleep, considering they're on a hard wood floor.

When they wake up the next morning and she asks why he stayed with her he answers, "I didn't(_couldn't_) leave you alone," as if it's obvious (she thinks about it for a few minutes before realizing, yeah, it kind of is).

oOo

Their first Valentine's Day together (not _together, _together, because, _honestly_, they're just friends), Ally is dateless and Austin has a large number of fan girls who are all vying for the chance to be his Valentine. She closes the shop early because business is dead (guitars and keyboards don't exactly scream _I love you_).

She's sitting at the piano, trying to work on a new song when she hears someone knocking on the door. She turns and finds Austin, dressed in a nice black blazer and jeans, waving enthusiastically at her.

He offers her a single red rose and takes her out to dinner and a movie (a friendly, non scary movie of course).

It's not a date (friends don't go on dates); it's just Austin & Ally (more and more it's becoming Austin & Ally, regardless of what day of the year it is).

oOo

Trish walks up to her in the store one day and informs her that she likes Dez. When Ally doesn't do anything besides nod she asks her friend why she's not surprised.

Ally tells her that the only person who would probably be surprised by this news is Dez.

And that he would also be incredibly happy. (she gets a light slap on the shoulder for the first part and a happy grin for the second)

When she tells Austin about it later he nearly chokes on his own spit. She knows he's fine because in between coughing he's singing what she really hopes aren't ideas for a new song (_I knew it! They are totally obvious!_ doesn't really seem like very good lyrics). After he's done choking he says he's glad for their friends and that he's glad they won't have to worry about bringing anyone new into the group now (neither of them catch the implications of that).

Instead, he grabs her hand and drags her out of the store to go get ice cream. Austin swings they're hands back in for to the rhythm of their latest song while Ally hums it quietly.

(she's not a princess so there's no need to sing to call out to her prince charming. he's not a prince so there's no need for a horse to ride to her rescue. their hands keep them connected enough)

oOo

Austin is the only person Ally has ever been able to sing in front of. She can't even sing in front of her father or Trish, but she's always been able to sing in front of Austin. And now that Dez and Trish are dating they have a lot more time to themselves so Austin tries to help her with her stage fright.

He sits in the practice room with the lights off and her eyes closed and she sings every song she's ever written for him to sing and a few she hasn't.

(eventually the lights come on, but her eyes always stay closed)

He claps and whistles because Ally could be a star if she wanted but instead she chooses to stay in the shadows and let Austin shine. He spends most of his evenings and weekends with her, alone and letting her sing to one person in hopes that eventually she might be able to sing to thousands (it's no big deal, he'd probably have spent most of that time with her anyways).

Plus, it's totally worth it the first time she sings _Break Down the Walls_ and manages to make eye contact through the whole song.

oOo

The first person Ally calls after she finds about her dad's accident is Austin. She sobs through the phone and manages to get out that her dad is hurt and she can't finish the song by Friday and she's _sososo_ sorry (she hates letting people down, no matter what the reason).

He hangs up the phone before she can finish apologizing and is at the hospital before she realizes that any time has passed at all. She falls into his open arms and lets him rock her and kiss the top of her head. Her father is going to be fine, the drunk driver hit the passenger side in the back seat so he's managed to walk away with a broken arm and some scraps and bruises but not much else.

She still cries though. Because she's scared and because Austin is there to hug her and catch all her tears with his shirt. And because she knows he doesn't mind.

He takes her back to her house and crawls into bed with her, holding her until her exhausted body finally gives up and she succumbs to sleep. He continues to rub her back comfortingly, whispering promises to always be there for her, long after she falls asleep.

(she dreams of those promises and the next day when they visit her dad after he wakes up, Austin never lets go of her hand, not once)

oOo

She meets Austin's mother for the first time when the woman walks in to Sonic Boom, looking to by her son a new guitar for his 17th birthday. She smiles politely and as soon as Amy Moon realizes who the young lady helping her is, she invites Ally over dinner (she's heard all about the young girl in front of her because for two years she, and his career, are all her son talks about).

So the next day Ally finds herself in the Moon's kitchen, helping the middle aged woman to cut vegetables since Austin is no where to be found. They talk about Austin and their music and their plans for the future (the future has been _Austin & Ally_ for so long that she can barely remember what it was like before that). Amy keeps looking at Ally with a smirk that Ally can't quite decode but she tries not to think about it. She just met the woman so it literally could be anything.

Austin makes his presence known a little while later. He strolls into the kitchen singing _The Butterfly Song_ in nothing but some basketball shorts and a damp towel hanging around his neck. He stops mid lyric and his eyes double in size while his face turns a healthy shade of red. She'd be embarrassed too if it weren't for the fact that she was laughing at the noises he was making (_I'm a little butter-gak!_).

He races upstairs and returns a few minutes later fully clothed. He glares as his mother and Ally laugh but stays to help them make dinner because he's bored (and _not _(_liarliar) _because he's missed the scent of strawberries and vanilla, which have worn off of Dougie).

Dinner is a disaster because Aaron Moon is his typical cynical self and informs Austin (while Ally is still at the table) that he needs to find a partner that doesn't have something has silly as stage fright. This goes on for a few minutes before Ally politely mentions that perhaps it would be best if she went home. She's out the door and Austin is on his feet screaming at his father (he's finally decided to support his son's career but there will _always_ be something that he thinks is wrong).

He tensely asks his mother for permission to be excused (it figures the one time he actually asks for it is the one time she wouldn't have cared if he didn't) before running out after Ally.

He stops before leaving the dining room to inform his father that, even without his support, he (_they_) is going to make it. Together.

He finds Ally at the park, sitting dejectedly on the swings and crying. When she notices him she tries to tell him his dad is right. He _does_ need a partner who can sing with him and she _is _just holding him back.

He doesn't listen. He rolls his eyes and tells her that his father is a jackass who _just doesn't get it_. He pulls her into a hug and reminds her of the song they wrote together shortly after becoming partners (_there's no way I could make it without you. do it without you. be here without you_). He meant it then and he means it now. It's not his dream if she's not there with him, not anymore.

He doesn't care if she doesn't sing. He loves that she writes song for him and, if one day she decides she's ready to sing her songs with him, he'll love that too. He just loves _her_; no matter what role she plays.

And then (because she's wrapped in his arms and looking up at him with eyes that are wide, innocent, almost doe like, and _whoishekidding-hewantsto_) he leans in and kisses her.

The funny thing is, even though it feels amazing and he kind of (_definitely_) wants to do it for the rest of his life, it doesn't feel all that different from what he has been feeling since he first met her.

(the truth is, being, _really being_, with Ally feels amazing and he's kind of, sort of, always been with her, _really been_ with her, from the very beginning)

(they brushed hands while playing the piano and truthfully neither one of them ever looked back)

oOo

The thing about _Not a Love Song _is that, well, it _is _a love, obviously.

The thing about _Austin&Ally_ is that, well, they _are_ a couple, obviously.

And they've always kind of, sort of, been one.

oooooo

Yeah...not really sure where the inspiration for this one shot came from. I was watching _Secrets & Songbooks_ and listening to _Not a Love Song_ and I couldn't help but think, _but...it is a love song_. Just sort of in disguise. Which is appropriate because Austin and Ally are _Not a Couple_, except they are. Just sort of in disguise.

Also, I'm thinking about doing an extended one shot of the last seen, with the dinner at Austin's house and the kiss in the park. Should I? Or should I never ever return to the fandom and subject you with my horrible stories (just kidding…I hope).

Let me know what you think! :)


End file.
